Faking Sick To Get The Upper Hand Is Lame

Evidently, it's cold and influenza season. This was made very clear to me these past few days when the young ladies at the hospital would only let a pair of people in my sister's post-natal recovery room.

Cold and influenza season is a real problem for romance. Singles can just forget about getting any action, because mucus is gross and bright red noses are only adorable if you're full of booze and only then if you're the former president of Russia. But the going steady, engaged and married crowds are in a different boat. A boat floating in Tylenol PM. Read: If We Stop Kissing Then Swine Flu Wins

Over at MSNBC, they let us know that some couples take illness very seriously. And by "seriously," they don't mean that couples are proactively fighting disease. Rather, they're referring to the serious effort some make not to get totally jobbed by their partners. Evidently, some couples take advantage of cold- and flu-like symptoms to get out of chores OR to gain attention and sympathy. "What the what?" is a reasonable response. Read: Men 6 Times More Likely To Leave A Sick Partner

It's hilarious when little kids go to great lengths to miss school by way of fabricated illnesses and maladies (we're Ferris Bueller fans in these parts), but grownups should only fake an illness in order to get into adventures, and only then with the express knowledge of their spouse, partner or significant other. The corner of Crying Wolf and Munchausen Syndrome is not a good place to park the automobile of your relationship. When you return, your wheels of trust may be taken, and the whole thing will be up on bricks of resentment. Read: 7 Signs He May Have Spring Fever

At any rate, the way to overcome health stress during cold and flu season appears to be communication, division of labor and plenty of rest. Take two of each and call me in the morning. Finally, feed a fever and sex up a cold.

How are you to your opposite number when you're sick? When they're sick?